Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes to the court against ninth seed Robin Soderling at the Shanghai Masters on Thursday afternoon. The players battle for a place among the final eight.

World No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks to even the series with French Open finalist Robin Soderling on Thursday. The 24-year-old Frenchman trails 0-1, having lost their only meeting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg, 2-6, 5-7.

The fifth seed won his opening-round match against Chinese wildcard Shao-Xuan Zeng in 61 minutes, 6-3, 6-3. The Frenchman, who took home top prize in Johannesburg and Marseille, improved his season record to a solid 49-16.

Tsonga captured his third title of the season in Tokyo a week ago, downing Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. The Frenchman joined an elite group of players, which includes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko, all of whom have captured at least three ATP World Tour championships in 2009.

World No. 11 Soderling eased through his first two matches, downing opponents Victor Hanescu and Nicolas Almagro, both in straight sets. Ninth seed Robin Soderling earned safe passage to the third round, downing Nicolas Almagro in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. The Swede, bidding for one of the vacant spots in the ATP World Tour finals, converted three of 9 break points during the 83-minute battle. The world No. 11 extends his series lead to 3-1 over Almagro, collecting three victories in 2009.

The ninth-seeded Swede is 41-17 this year, advancing to the quarterfinal-round or better in eight tournaments. Soderling, a title-winner at the Catella Swedish Open in July, reached back-to-back hard-court semifinals in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

« Last Edit: October 14, 2009, 07:22:24 PM by Soderking »

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

hey guys. i've been missing a lot of tennis lately... and then today, I saw the news, Soderling defeated Tsonga! Now i have high hopes about his getting into the top 8 for London!

Go go go Robin!

He played his best match since the French Open today. He was wickedly in form. I was expecting the dude that played Nole, but the old Robin came to play Tsonga today. It was quite a treat. Tsonga didn't play poorly. Robin was in the zone today. I'm very excited by the prospect of him going far in this one.

Yes, Robin is now in the #8 position in the race for the ATP Barclay Masters final!!!!!

He will almost assuredly be in the Top 10 on Monday! When that is certain, I'll let you know.

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

I love the look of determination in the photo used in the article. That is the same look he had in his eye when he came so close to taking Fed to a 5th set at the U.S. Open. To me, it represents a new level of confidence and belief in himself.

Ninth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling moved up to No. 8 in the 2009 year-to-date South African Airways ATP Rankings points standings on Thursday, after defeating fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 6-3 for a place in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 Presented by Rolex.

Soderling added 90 points to his year-to-date points total (2810 points overall) to move ahead of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez (2780 points), who lost to Nikolay Davydenko, another player attempting to clinch a place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, in the third round.

"I try not to think about it [the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals] too much, because it only makes me nervous, so I try to focus on every match instead and hopefully do well in every match," confessed Soderling. "I know that if I play well, I have a chance, but this tournament won't decide who's going to play in London. There's still a lot of tennis to be played this year, and there's a couple of big tournaments coming up. So I have to keep on doing well the rest of the year."

The 25-year-old Soderling, who also beat Tsonga at Hamburg in May 2008, won 74 per cent of service points and hit eight aces for victory in 70 minutes. Tsonga, who last week captured his fifth ATP World Tour title and third trophy of the year at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo (d. Youzhny), had his serve broken four times as he won 54 per cent of service points.

"He was playing really good at the beginning," said Soderling. "I expected him to play well because he's a great player and he's in good form, coming in from Tokyo. His level dropped a little bit after I broke him the first time. But I think even though the score was 3 and 3, I think it was a pretty close match, and I'm very happy that I played well, because I really needed to play well today."

Soderling, who is coached by former ATP pro Magnus Norman, improved to a 42-17 season record highlighted by one ATP World Tour title at the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad (d. Monaco) and a runner-up finish at Roland Garros (l. to Federer). Tsonga, 24, failed to record his 50th match win of the year (49-17 match record).

Soderling goes onto meet an World No. 41 Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in 12 months (2008-Madrid) with a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 win over Austrian Jurgen Melzer in two hours and nine minutes. Lopez, who reached the Open 13 quarter-finals at Marseille (l. to Tsonga) in February, hit 15 aces to Melzer's 17 aces in the pair's fifth meeting (Melzer 3-2). The 28-year-old Lopez improved to 12-19 on the year.===============http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/10/Shanghai-Thursday-Soderling-Reaches-QFs.aspx

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

oh thank you very much soderking. i'm just so............. ECSTATIC!!!!! Wow, our man has really come this far, hasn't he? a few months back i was criticized by a few for supporting an almost "nobody"... but look where he has gone since then, and there's no stopping him...

well, i guess gone are the days when nadal fans would have the nerve to come to this thread and post a joke in bad taste... (scroll far up to see for yourself)... i was so upset then...

anyway, i'm so happy now and i won't let any bad memory ruin my celebration.

oh thank you very much soderking. i'm just so............. ECSTATIC!!!!! Wow, our man has really come this far, hasn't he? a few months back i was criticized by a few for supporting an almost "nobody"... but look where he has gone since then, and there's no stopping him...

well, i guess gone are the days when nadal fans would have the nerve to come to this thread and post a joke in bad taste... (scroll far up to see for yourself)... i was so upset then...

anyway, i'm so happy now and i won't let any bad memory ruin my celebration.

To Robin Soderling, the man to beat!

Thanks Prodigal,

I just got to your message. I'm bummed that he didn't win the Lopez match when he was the favorite. I guess he gets needed rest for the Stockholm Open on the positive side.

He keeps hinting that he'll do something significant and then falls down when least expected, so I guess the digs will continue until he wins something major.

I didn't even see the match. I fell asleep last night and missed everything but Rafa's match. I guess from what I've read Lopez got him quite a few times with a low slicing backhand. Sounds like a Fed shot, no?

Thanks for believing in him and putting up with all that nonsense when noone else did. I did the same thing and remember getting grief as well. He just needs to work on his consistency. It is hard right now cheering for him, because his brilliance comes out on some matches and then it goes away when you're expecting it to be there again. Man, if he could just start bringing his "A" game for a long stretch.... that's all that is left for him to do....

« Last Edit: October 16, 2009, 09:53:03 PM by Soderking »

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

Robin Soderling of Sweden reacts during his match against Feliciano Lopez of Spain during the quarter-finals of the ATP Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 16, 2009. Lopez won 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE LOPEZ (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

SHANGHAI, CHINA-OCTOBER 16: (CHINA OUT) Robin Soderling of Sweden returns a shot to Feliciano Lopez of Spain during day six of 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 16, 2009 in Shanghai, China.(Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

Robin Soderling of Sweden looks on after loosing a point against Feliciano Lopez of Spain during the quarter-finals of the ATP Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 16, 2009. Lopez won 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE LOPEZ (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 16: Robin Soderling of Sweden reacts to a lost point against Feliciano Lopez of Spain during day six of 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 16, 2009 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Victor Fraile/Getty Images)

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 16: Robin Soderling of Sweden congratulates Feliciano Lopez of Spain at the net after their match during day six of the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 16, 2009 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

« Last Edit: October 16, 2009, 06:44:35 PM by Soderking »

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

Soderking, now that Robin lost to Lopez, how does he need to perform in his next tournaments to get into the Masters?

Well, Roddick and Davydenko have probably wrapped up #6 and #7. So Robin is fighting with Gonzalez, Verdasco and Tsonga for #8. That is going to be tough. He is going to have perform really well in Paris. He might be tired for Stockholm, but he has to play that one because it is home. One HUGE advantage Robin has is that his best surface/condition is Indoor Carpet and Indoor Hard Courts. He is like Nalby, and in fact, last year Nalby and Sod had an epic Davis Cup match as well as a great Finals match in Stockholm. Nalby won, but I admired Robin's play in that match. I was rooting against him as Nalby is probably always #1, but that match definitely has contributed to my respect for his game that flowered this year. I own the tape of that final and have watched it many times. Robin is incredibly tough indoors and temperate conditions. Nalby literally cried when he finally beat Robin in 5 sets in Davis Cup match last year, because Robin was so tough. So via Nalby, much of my respect for Robin's game has come.

So if Robin takes Stockholm, he should have #8 position in ATP WTFs entering Paris, and then he needs to secure it by doing better than Verdasco, Tsonga and Gonzalez.

One other obvious scenario for Robin to make the WTF in London. Players have been getting injured right and left. If Robin finishes ranked 9th (probably the most likely scenario) and one of the top 8 pulls out due to injury, he will get the invitation. He would also get an invitation to go even if all 8 players do accept their invitations as the first alternate. The first alternate at the WTF has gotten a chance to play in quite a few of the past WTFs, with one of the players pulling out after the first round robin match, so this would be an honor and a great opportunity to play regardless.

« Last Edit: October 19, 2009, 12:02:42 AM by Soderking »

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

The ATP Stockholm field of players does not have a Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic in it. However Robin Soderling has been playing like a top 10 player for about 5 to 6 months now so hopefully that boosts some interest in the tournament. Also Tommy Haas, who was ranked as high as number 2 on the tour, will be in Stockholm as will former world number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Ladbrokes is first to the punch with future's odds for this event and here are the players that can be considered a threat to win the title:

With the odds as they are the only plays worth making are either pounding Robin Soderling at even odds or sprinkling both Karlovic and Ferrero to give yourself a legitimate one-two punch for the longshot upset championship.

Soderling has been playing incredibly tough lately, usually only going out to competition in the top 10 like Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Nikolay Davydenko (players that are absent from the Stockholm field). This is a home tournament for the Swedish star and he won a title earlier this year in his home country (at the Bastad event) so that makes Soderling a smart pick.

Although Ferrero and Karlovic are both tricky players, Soderling is certainly our strongest recommendation against this relatively weak field.

« Last Edit: October 18, 2009, 11:13:53 PM by Soderking »

Logged

Soderking, Nole, Del Pony, Rafa and a Rejuvenated Nalby for the Love of Tennis...

It seems qualifying won't be easy. But as you said, indoor courts are probably his strongest surface (my first memory of Söderling was a final against Malisse - can't remember what year it was -, and I was really impressed), while the other contenders favour somewhat slower courts. And if he's playing well he can beat any of them. It'll be an exiting two weeks!